As you say, Melody - Isiah is about Babylon..........
waR toRn Rebel;
Isaiah 14
14:3 And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve,
14:4 That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!
Isaiah 13 and 14 predict the ultimate fall of Babylon at a time even before the kingdom of Babylon became dominant. In Isaiah's time, the Assyrian empire was the leading nation.
Revelation 12
12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
(Wonder" is the same as "sign." By calling this miraculous scene in the heavens a sign, John helps to confirm that the other events described in Revelation should be understood literally if they are not designated as signs. Since the meaning of the sign is not explained in the immediate context, it must be understood in terms of previous revelation. As a matter of fact, the sign is so comprehensive that it embraces the entire plan of redemption, beginning with the Edenic promise. Here, in the middle of the book of Revelation, the Lord has provided several parenthetical revelations, each extending from primeval history up to this climactic point, the midpoint of the seven-year tribulation, and beyond.
While this symbol might at first suggest a connection with Joseph's dream (Genesis 37:9,10) in which he saw the sun, moon and eleven stars, representing his parents and brothers bowing down to him, there are important diff The sign will have special application in this context to Israel; the church will have been taken out of the world, and God will be dealing with Israel in a special way once again. The sun may well symbolize Christ Himself, "the light of the world" (John 8:12), for the woman has "put on Christ." The moon is a sort of counterfeit light, or false religion, which the woman has put under her feet; and the twelve stars in her crown possibly represent the tribes of Israel, soon to be revived and restored as the special nation of God's election.)
12:2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
12:3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
(There is a general application here to the whole world, "Because the creature [creation] itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now" (Romans 8:21,22). The more specific application, however, must be to Israel and then Mary herself: "Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail" ( Micah 4:10). "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah,...out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting" (Micah 5:2).
The sign of the great dragon is explained in Revelation 12:7. He is "that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan," who has tried to destroy the woman and her spiritual seed ever since Eden. Yet, in order to be used as a sign, the dragon itself must have been a real animal, well known and feared by the ancient world but now extinct (see notes on Genesis 1:21; Job 40:15-24; Isaiah 27:1). Though evolutionists would disagree, dragons almost certainly were dinosaurs, universally known by the nations of antiquity to exist as real creatures.
The "seven heads and ten horns" on this hydra-headed dragon evidently represent the great kingdoms of past history and the chief kingdoms of this final period of history, all of which have been and will be imbued with the spirit of the old serpent (1 John 5:19). See notes on Revelation 17:10-12 for more specific identification.)
12:4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
(These "stars of heaven" are identified as Satan's angels in Revelation 12:9. In Satan's primeval rebellion against God, he was able to persuade a third of God's "innumerable company of angels" (Hebrews 12:22) to follow him. They were "cast out into the earth" (Revelation 12:9) as a result (Isaiah 14:12; Ezekiel 28:17; Luke 10:18). Some went to the lowest hell (2 Peter 2:4) and some were bound in the Euphrates (Revelation 9:14) as a result of further specific and flagrant sins. There are still multitudes of demonic angels, however, freely roaming the world and serving "the prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2), and these hosts will be more active and dangerous than ever in these final days.
Ever since the promise of Genesis 3:15, Satan has been attempting to prevent the promised Seed from being born, beginning with his attack on Cain and Abel (1 John 3:12) and continuing with his attempt to corrupt the entire human race in the days of Noah (Genesis 6:4-13). In spite of Satan's efforts, Christ was born. The Devil tried to destroy Him with Herod's slaughter of the babes at Bethlehem. When that failed, he tried to corrupt Christ in the wilderness and tried several times to have Him slain before He could go to the cross.)
12:5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
(Psalm 2:9 and Revelation 19:15 indicate Christ will rule with a "rod of iron." This clearly identifies the "man child" as the Lord Jesus Christ and therefore as the promised Seed.
The primary reference here is certainly to the resurrection and ascension of Christ. However, the phrase "caught up" is also used in connection with the rapture of believers (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Christ also promised the overcoming believers that they would share in His rule of the nations with a rod of iron (Revelation 2:27), so this verse probably includes all those who were also in Christ at the time of the rapture.)
12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
(The "woman" at this time can only be Israel, and the "wilderness" into which she flees must be the desert and mountain regions east and southeast of the Dead Sea. This is the region occupied )
12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
(At this time of Jewish persecution, the archangel Michael will "stand up" for them (Daniel 12:1), and this will result in a great war in heaven--probably in the atmospheric heaven, which had been Satan's domain, where the Lord has met with His redeemed and raptured saints. There Satan and his angels will be defeated and cast permanently down to the earth (Revelation 12:9). How this war will be fought has not been revealed, but both faithful and fallen angels have tremendous energies and powers, of which humans have little comprehension)
12:8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.